Jacket
by presser-kun
Summary: How do you choose according to who you are when you haven't figured out who you are yet? Naruto comes of age in the rough-edged world of Sasuke's street-racing biker gang.


_for my love, Hiraoka Tatsuo_

Jacket

1

The bike was hot, hotter than usual. Sasuke revved the hog, thumb twitching on the throttle, sweat and pheromones trickling behind his left ear. Sasuke shook his head, wiped the side of his face with his shoulder. His blue-black spiky hair undulated in the humid August night.

Anxious.

_Can't wait to get it on!_

He looked to his left. Deek was on his Wide Glide, bright ginger curls all askew, grinning like a living skull—like usual.

To his right, Bomber was hunched over his Softail, his beady eyes narrowed, in his own world, focused completely on the road.

_Go, damnit, go! What's taking Pete so long?_

Finally the clipped sounds of Japanese rang off the low-slung buildings in the Tatsumi district.

"Three! Two! One! Goooooo!"

Three bikes roared. The heady scent of exhaust shot through with cheers, jeers, catcalls, and coughs fogged the crowd gathered to watch as the first heat of the SF quarterfinals began.

"Speed Forever!"

"Go, Deek!"

"Fuck you all!"

Deek, Bomber, and Sasuke leaped into the night.

The flyby was incredible, as always. Sasuke felt free—the only time he did—when he was racing, racing.

Bomber. Deek. The city. Buildings erupting from a foreshortened landscape of neon, brick, steel, glass, then blurring past. Wind on Sasuke's face was hot and sharp. Somehow a few grains of sand had found a way into his gloves. Sasuke squeezed the grips tightly, relishing the texture of subtle pain across his palms.

The road. Nothing but road, nothing but gliding, the noise so deafening that only silence existed.

_Zone, they call it,_ Sasuke thought.

_Fuck what they call it. I just know it's good, fucking good._

- - -

After the race, no less than three girls hung on Sasuke, drinking his aura.

He ignored them all.

Looked for Naruto in the crowd.

The smell of girl-sweat, boy-sweat, hung in the humid August air, musk on skin on damp cotton.

Too many people; too many kids who didn't know, didn't understand what the clan meant.

Sasuke pushed through it all to find him.

There he was.

"Naru!"

Sasuke jerked his head to the left.

Naruto followed without hesitation.

"Sasuke?"

"We're leaving."

- - -

Sato's was crowded, as usual. Japanese teens, dressed to slay the opposite sex, sat texting each other over American burgers and strawberry milk from the battery of vending machines that lined Sato's long wall of mirrors. Laughter broke out as the latest meme was touted, dissed, forgotten. Anime hair swayed to unheard music, everyone jacked into their own private world, MySpacing the ones that mattered.

In a back booth, Sasuke held court, attended by two girls, three sniveling boys three years his junior, and Naruto.

"Let me see it, Kenji!"

"Fuck off, Peeb. It's mine!"

"Aw, c'mon, Kenji, I just want it for a moment."

"I _said_ it's _mine,_ dickwad!"

The trio fought over the new VeeSpin8 that Kenji had just bought until Sasuke cleared his throat. The boys looked up to see the signature glower of Deek's number one. They quickly apologized.

"Get the fuck out of my face, _boys,_" Sasuke said, sneering the last word. Kenji, Peeb, and Shingo went completely silent.

"What part of 'fuck off' don't you get?"

The three left.

"Fuck, Sasuke, you were so hot tonight." Nina grabbed his arm, reaching over her best friend, Susanno, whose thumbs jittered over a BlackBerry Curve in a hot pink and lime green jungle stripe shell. Sasuke shrugged her off.

_Fuck. She's actually bowing her head to me. What the fuck does she think I am?_

Aloof what was Sasuke did, who he was to the world.

But he smiled—barely.

His eyes flicked toward Naruto, to see if he was looking.

He was.

Charred animal fat, wafting over from adjoining tables, hit his nostrils, and Sasuke swallowed, then semi-snarled, silent, tossing his head back, blue-black spiked hair spilling left-right-left.

_Why the hell do I care _what_ he thinks?_

_But I do…_

Sasuke straightened his head, narrowed his eyes.

"Naruto."

The boy's head snapped up.

"What?"

"Did you like it?"

Naruto swigged his Ice Cucumber Pepsi, looked down at the table, then glanced up with his head still lowered.

Nina and Susanno were laughing over a new text that had just come in.

"Well, yeah, of course. You were—"

He paused as a waitress plopped down malteds and fries, which the girls slid to themselves and began to consume.

"You were fucking awesome."

Sasuke allowed himself a smirk.

"You think Deek was impressed?"

Both boys ignored the girls, now chatting, laughing softly as they munched fries, cruised to j-rock in their phones, leaving the two to their tech.

"Fuck, yeah. Or he ought-a be."

"I ought-a be what?"

Deek looked down at the table. Nina, Susanno, Naruto looked up in awe. Sasuke played cool.

"Deek," Sasuke said with a broad grin. "You really rocked the street tonight."

Deek barked a monosyllabic laugh.

"You were almost good, Sasu. You might even take me one day. If I ever decide to let you."

_In your dreams, Great Leader. You have no idea…_

Sasuke lowered his eyes.

"Yeah, well…"

"You got the good ones tonight, Sasu," Deek said, casting a glance at the waif girls who hung on his second in command.

Susanno's sleeve brushed Sasuke's bare arm. She smiled at him. He held back a flinch.

"Them? Sluts," Sasuke said with a cough-laugh.

The girls made faces, clung to each other.

Sasuke chanced another glance at Naruto. He was awe-ing Deek—as he should.

"So, tell me, Sasuke," Deek said with a nod of his head toward Naruto. "Has he got what it takes? You think he can do it?"

"Absolutely," Sasuke said. "I stand by him."

"You stand by him, do you?" Deek raised his chest, just a bit. "We'll see. Friday's the council. We'll decide then."

"Whatever," Sasuke said. Too nonchalantly.

Deek narrowed his eyes, lowered the pitch of his voice.

"You know, you fuck this up, and you're out of the circle, Sasu. I'd hate to lose a quality guy like you over a little shit like this." Deek turned his full gaze on Naruto, who blushed.

But Naruto looked up, dared to look the captain straight in the eye.

"I've got what it takes, Deek. You'll see." His face was set, determined. Eyes blazed, but cautiously.

"Well, little Naru, I guess we'll find out soon enough, won't we?' Deek threw his head back and laughed.

"Not Naru," Naruto whispered under his breath. "It's Naruto."

Deek's lady appeared, pulled on his arm.

"Deek, baby, I want you. Come, come."

Deek leered at Sasuke, Naruto, ignored the twats with them.

"Yeah, whatever. I got some…_shit_ to…um, take care of." He grabbed his lady's ass, laughed that growly, throaty laugh of his.

"Fuck you all, okay?"

"Yeah," the table answered, "Fuck you all, Deek."

- - -

Bikes spoke softly as the bosozoku, the rough riders, departed Sato's, each young man with his attendant girl(s) in tow. The crowd, gathered to feed on the clan's charisma, dispersed into the hot August night.

Naruto glanced at his watch. _Nine forty-five. It's Tuesday, and I've got curfew at ten._ He hung back as Sasuke dismissed Nina and Susanno, found Kenji, Shingo, and Peeb and sent them on an errand. He studied Sasuke's back as the taller boy dealt with his minions.

_He's taller than me, but just barely. Square, blocky shoulders. Bet he works out and's got abs._

Naruto looked down at his own waist, grimaced, thinking how he ought to start doing weights.

"You bet, Sasuke! No problem, no problem at all!" Kenji's fly-away hair, lavender-blue this week and gelled stiff, vibrated as the fifteen-year-old nodded vigorously.

"Don't fuck this up, Kenji. You _don't_ want me to have to—"

Kenji grinned nervously, talked over Sasuke in a voice too bright.

"Hahahaha, yeah, like, I mean, that won't, there's no _way_ I'd let that, like, happen again. Right, Peeb? Shingo?" Kenji put his arms around the shoulders of his friends, hugged them too tightly. Shingo pushed away, knocking Kenji off-balance. He hung onto Peeb for support. The two stumbled into an awkward embrace. "Hahahahaha! For sure I can—"

Sasuke lowered his head a bit and deadpanned the boys; went absolutely still.

They did, too, waiting to see what would happen next.

Sasuke suddenly reached into his pocket. The three flinched at the movement.

"Here." Sasuke handed Kenji a thousand-yen note. "Have it there by eleven p.m. Got it?"

"Yessir!" The boys came to attention and saluted.

"You pukes make me sick."

Pause.

"Well?"

They sprang into action.

"Yessir, yessir, we're going!"

They scurried down the street; stopped when Sasuke called to them.

"Hey."

They turned.

"Fuck you all, okay?"

They smiled.

"Fuck you all, Sasuke."

Sasuke stared as Kenji took Peeb's hand and ran, dragging his friend around the corner. Sasuke turned to find Naruto staring at him, but not; like he was spacing.

"Naru?"

Naruto shook his head, came out of his thoughts.

"Sasuke."

"You, um, got a problem?"

Naruto blushed, made a show of rubbing his eyes with fists to try to hide it.

"No, course not."

"Then come."

- - -

_Shit. Iruka's gonna nail me for not being back at the dorm by ten. But there's no way I won't hang with Sasuke if he wants me around._

Naruto's hands were jammed deep in his pockets. He stood behind Sasuke in front of corrugated tin on a back street near the Yodo, the stench of the fish market strong, gulls calling loudly as they slid through warm currents, yearning for uplift. While Sasuke fought with the padlock that would let them into his room, Naruto thought about what was to go down this weekend.

_Deek doesn't think I can do it—doesn't think I've got what it takes. But I'll show him, I will. And Sasuke s- supports me. And Deek thinks Sasuke's cool. And—_

"There. Fucking piece of shit." Old pine scraped, tin screeched as Sasuke wrenched open the door onto a narrow stairway of cinderblock. The heat was stifling.

"Don't worry. I've got a fan."

Sasuke started up the stairs. Naruto followed, then looked back.

"Um, the door…"

"Leave it. Kenji's coming by. Nothing's gonna happen on this shithole of a street."

At the top of the stairs, another padlock, but this one yielded easily to Sasuke's key.

Light, on. Naruto blinked.

Sasuke shoved his keys back in his pocket. "Gotta use the can." He walked to the one door beside the front and entered his toilet, leaving Naruto standing alone.

The room was spare. At the back, a sink, a refrigerator, a thin counter, an ancient stove. No cabinets, but a whitewashed cupboard in the corner.

The floor was cracked linoleum, mostly covered with a thin rug so faded the pattern was hard to detect.

On one side of the room, two plastic laundry baskets, one blue, one white, held neatly folded tee-shirts, shorts, socks. Above, a wire fastened to the wall between nails held coat hangers bearing shirts and khakis pressed with the iron and board leaning against a homemade bookshelf—bricks and two-by-fours, spaced four-to-one. The bookshelf was full of well-thumbed paperbacks.

Naruto's eyes traveled to the other side of the room. Across from the front door, a worn couch without legs sat square on the floor. Next to it, further down the wall, was a sleeping bag, rolled up and neatly tied. Under the one window to the front of the room were three hard plastic cartons, the sides open. Two held CDs; the third, notebooks. An old, metal fan, salvaged, stood on the pile of notebooks. In front of the couch, throw pillows for sitting.

The heat, the humidity clung to Naruto's arms, face, neck. He coughed softly, turned to examine the books, but before he could read any titles, Sasuke reappeared.

"Whad'ya think?"

"It's _clean,_" Naruto blurted, then clamped his hand over his mouth and blushed. "I mean, it—it's so clean! There's no dust or dirt."

"I'd go nuts otherwise. Besides," Sasuke laughed, "the neighborhood's dirty enough."

Silence hung between them, and suddenly Naruto was uncomfortably aware of how black Sasuke's eyes were. He looked away.

"Have a seat." Sasuke motioned to the pillows in front of him. Naruto moved to sit as Sasuke opened the window, turned on the fan, and stretched out on the couch. He interlocked his fingers behind his head and breathed deeply. He let out a loud sigh and turned his head toward Naruto.

Muggy August air stirred sluggishly as the fan, rattling when it turned to the right, filled the silence between the two. Naruto looked at his knee. He felt Sasuke's gaze on him and wanted to look up, but was unwilling. He ran the fingers of one hand through thick, fly-away hair, then shook the platinum blonde locks out of his eyes, using the motion to glance at Sasuke.

He was staring straight at Naruto, an inscrutable look on his face. Naruto opened his mouth.

"Ah…uh… about what you wanted…"

"Who said I wanted anything?"

Naruto blushed, looked away.

"Well, I mean, you…"

"I just asked you to come with me. I never said I wanted anything." Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto, who blinked, then looked away.

"Oh, um… I…"

Sasuke laughed.

"I do, though."

"You do what?"

"Want something."

Sasuke smiled. Naruto looked back to him.

Silence again. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Look, if you just wanna play games…"

"Hey, hey, calm down, Naru—"

"It's Naruto."

"Naruto, then—I _do_ want something: I wanna talk about this weekend."

"Oh."

Sasuke turned onto a hip, propped himself on an elbow.

"Deek said it tonight: the council's this Friday. We'll vote on who's allowed to apply to the bosozoku."

"Boso—"

"The clan. The rough riders. Speed Forever."

"Oh. So, what do I have to do? T- to get in?"

"First you have to tell me why you _want_ in."

Though Sasuke's gaze was intense, his face was calm.

_He wants—_needs_—me to say something, to say the right thing,_ Naruto thought. _But what?_

- - -

"Give it!"

"I had it first!"

"It's mine!"

Jun reached for the book, but Naruto had it in both hands, and yanked it away quickly. Jun lunged at Naruto, who turned to fend him off. As Jun came at him, Naruto turned back, his shoulder hitting Jun square in the face. The eight-year-old's glasses flew off and hit the floor.

"I _said,_ I had it _first!_"

Jun bent to pick up his glasses. He came up quickly, head-butting Naruto in the stomach. Naruto let go of the book and fell backwards. Jun picked up the book, then stood over Naruto, who sat up, rubbing his head.

"I _told_ you, it's _mine!_ No one reads my books without asking first!"

"You weren't reading it," Naruto said. "It was just—"

"It was just _nothing!_ You keep your hands off my stuff!"

The two boys stared hard at each other.

Chika, Mana, Yoko, and Kenichi came running from across the dormitory, Kenichi going to Jun, the three girls making a circle around Naruto, still sitting on the floor.

"You okay, Jun?" Kenichi's hand went to Jun's shoulder. Jun shrugged it off.

The girls looked down at Naruto with prissy, sarcastic grins.

"Why'd you do that, Naruto?"

"You know you're not supposed to bother Jun's stuff."

"Don't you remember anything you're told?"

"Yeah, _don't_ you?"

"_Don't_ you?"

They burst into laughter. Kenichi and Jun walked off, Jun commenting on what a jerk Naruto was.

A voice from the hall: "Yoko, Mana, Chika! Aren't you coming? The game's starting!"

They ran for the door, laughing, leaving Naruto sitting alone.

- - -

A gull swept near the window, calling loudly. Sasuke spoke.

"Well?"

Naruto realized his mouth was open. He shut it, swallowed, stuffing the memory back into his subconscious. He looked away.

"I- I've never belonged to anything before. Always been on the outside, ever since I can remember. I- I want to be a part of something, something significant. I want to _count._ I want to _matter._"

Naruto looked back to Sasuke, hopeful, hesitant.

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a long time, his face impossible to read.

Finally, Naruto broke the gaze between them.

"Look, if that sounded—"

"It didn't sound corny, if that's what you were going to say." Sasuke's tone was soft. "I was just thinking that that's pretty much the reason _I_ wanted in, too."

Naruto eyes snapped back to Sasuke's.

"Really?"

Sasuke looked away, then sat up, raised his body on stiffened arms, and crossed his legs under him.

"Yeah, yeah. I was kicked out by my older brother two years ago, after our parents died. He was old enough to get custody of me, but…let's just say things didn't work out between us.

"So I learned to take care of myself. I left school, lived on the street for a while, did some petty crime stuff. I got by.

"Then I met Deek. Things changed after that."

Naruto listened intently, studying Sasuke as he spoke.

_Old enough to have finished high school by now,_ Naruto thought. _Probably a year or two older than me._

"So you…"

"I was saving for a bike, had my eye on a pretty one, but didn't make jack shit at my job, and knew I'd never be able to get it. But that didn't stop me from looking. I went by the shop three, four times a week sometimes. Just hung around drooling.

"Deek walked in one day and saw how hungry I was."

Sasuke shook his head, smiled.

"But that doesn't really—"

"No, no, go on. Please. What did—I mean, how did Deek—"

"How did I get in? Is that it?"

Naruto nodded.

"I suppose I should tell you. Might be good for you to know."

Naruto listened raptly as Sasuke told him how Deek had cultivated a friendship with him, had shown him what the bosozoku could do for him. Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes light up as he talked about the ways of Speed Forever, and how the clan had changed his life. How Sasuke now felt important—that he mattered to the clan.

Then the light in Sasuke's eyes changed.

"It was good, real good, for the first year."

"But—"

Naruto stopped as he saw Sasuke's mood darken.

"It's not perfect, the clan. There are problems, some of them bigger than—than Deek wants to admit. But that's a—"

"Sasuke! You here?"

Kenji's thin, tenor voice came through the window, through the whir of the fan, from below.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, raising his voice. "Get up here."

Soft thuds up concrete.

Pause.

A timid knock.

"Come in."

The door opened on a very nervous Kenji. He was wearing gray cargo pants, pockets everywhere, cut just below the knees, and sneakers without socks. His blood-red tee-shirt featured a baroque skull with a pistol in its mouth, surrounded by filigree scrollwork and roses, all in black. His lavender hair, gelled and shaped to one side of his head, looked like it was trying to leap off his skull. Kenji stood with a six-pack of Shin Janru under his arm, a broad grin on his face—which vanished when he saw the look in Sasuke's eyes.

"What the hell? Kenji, what did I tell you to get?"

"Uh- uh- b- beer, Sasuke."

"And what the _fuck_ is that under your arm?"

Kenji looked down. Condensation from the bright, silver-yellow aluminum cans dripped onto his sneakers.

He looked back to Sasuke.

"B- but Shin Janru _is_ beer."

"_Third_ beer, Kenji. There's no malt in it. It's not real beer. I'd think even a piss ant like you would know that."

_It's still got alcohol in it,_ Naruto thought. He looked from Sasuke's scowl to Kenji.

Kenji stared, eyes wide, sweat trickling down one cheek. Something in him clicked, and he came to life. He spoke belligerently.

"Look, Sasuke, that's what he had."

"_He_ had?"

"He _got,_ okay? Th- the guy who bought this for me—told me that's all they had."

"Who, Kenji?"

"S- some…guy. He was standing outside the store. Said he'd buy the beer for me, since I'm underage."

"And you gave him the money, right? _My_ money."

Kenji wilted.

"Y- yeah."

"Get any change?"

"No. He said he'd keep the change for his trouble."

"You _idiot!_"

"L- look, Sasuke, I'm—I'm sorry."

"Not half as sorry as you're _gonna_ be."

Sasuke let Kenji stew in the heat and silence, then said, "Put it in the fridge and get the fuck out of my place. I'll deal with you later."

Kenji did, then left, stumbling down the concrete stairs too quickly. At the bottom, angry whispers from Peeb and Shingo.

"I _told_ you he wouldn't like it."

"Shut _up, _Peeb!"

"And besides—"

"Cut it, Peeb," Shingo said. "He can still hear you!"

The trio scuffled off.

During this exchange, Naruto watched Sasuke with interest.

He cocked his ear toward the window to hear, narrowed his eyes as he followed the conversation; smiled at Shingo's words.

Sasuke treated everyone around him with disdain—everyone except Deek and maybe Bomber, Deek's best friend. _And me,_ Naruto thought. _Why does he treat _me_ differently?_

"Fuck," Sasuke said softly under his breath, finally looking back at Naruto. "I really wanted a cold one tonight."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, and their eyes locked.

And Naruto decided to go for it.

"Sasuke," he said, not moving his eyes, "I don't know what's going on with the bosozoku, what problems there may be, but—but I _do_ know I want it. I want in, I want to join. I want to be a part of something important, and this looks like my chance. If you'll show me what I need to do, I'll do it. I won't let you down."

Neither boy broke the gaze between them.

Sasuke studied the earnest intensity of his—his what? New friend?

_Yeah, I guess he is, isn't he?_

"Okay," Sasuke said, suddenly raising up on his hands and uncrossing his legs. The move startled Naruto, who leaned back sharply. Sasuke plopped down on the couch, groaned as he stretched, his legs straight out, arms high.

"What?" Sasuke said, a faint smile on his lips. "You think I was gonna come at you?"

"N- no."

Sasuke crossed his feet just a couple of inches away from Naruto's knee, locked his fingers behind his head.

"There's a shitload of stuff you need to know. We're gonna need some time together this week, before Friday. Can you get here tomorrow?"

Naruto gulped. _Iruka's really gonna kill me good._

"Absolutely. Just tell me when."

"I'm off work at five. I'll need to change, then we can grab some food and talk." He paused. "Be here a six, okay?"

"Okay."

Naruto's eyes were bright, intense. He met Sasuke's gaze with confidence.

"Well?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"You can leave. I didn't invite you to spend the night."

Naruto blushed brightly and scrambled to his feet.


End file.
